OSU taps Illinois leader as dean of veterinary medicine

03/05/2001

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Howard B. Gelberg, associate dean for research and a professor of pathology at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois, has been named dean of the Oregon State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Gelberg begins his new duties on July 1, succeeding Kelvin Koong, the interim dean, who will return to duties in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

OSU Provost Tim White, who announced the appointment, said Gelberg has a strong background in research, fund raising, administration and advocacy. He will play a key leadership role in transforming the college and recently published a major article, "Blueprint for the Future of Veterinary Medicine," in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, White added.

"Howard Gelberg has the vision, the experience and the ability to take the College of Veterinary Medicine to the next level of accomplishment," White said.

Gelberg has a clear view of the opportunities and challenges for veterinary medicine. "I am confident we can work to build on the college's traditions of excellence in teaching, public service and clinical investigation, improve our facilities, and develop a more central role in biomedical research," Gelberg said. "We are limited only by our imagination and energy."

Gelberg has been a faculty member and administrator at the University of Illinois since 1980. For the past three years, he has been the associate dean for research of UI's College of Veterinary Medicine, simultaneously serving as assistant director of the Agricultural Experiment Station.

Dr. Gelberg earned D.V.M. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University. He is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists.

His research interests center around the investigation of host cell-pathogen interactions in gastrointestinal infections in a variety of animal species, and the role of sialic acid in kidney function. He has worked in private veterinary practice in clinics and hospitals in New Hampshire and New York, and has been a consultant to private industry on pathology concerns.

Gelberg also has worked as a research scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York, and as a veterinary officer with the U.S. Department of Commerce in Alaska.

As dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at OSU, Gelberg will oversee a program that has 32 faculty, 144 doctor of veterinary medicine (DVM) students and an annual budget of about $8 million. The OSU college has two departments - the Department of Biomedical Sciences and the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences. It also operates the Large Animal Referral Hospital and the Statewide Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.